Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Louisiana Diabetes Program of the state Department of Health and Hospitals has created a “Louisiana Diabetes Fact Sheet’’. But just because they're facts that doesn't mean it's good news. Chief among the facts:

Louisiana has the highest mortality rate in the nation.

In 2007, over 320,000 Louisiana residents had been diagnosed with diabetes. That's over 10 percent of the adult population.

Louisiana is 8th in the nation in number of residents diagnosed with diabetes.

Diabetes is the 5th leading cause of death in Louisiana.

African -Americans have the highest rate of all racial groups with an over13 percent diagnosis rate.

Nearly one out of every four residents over the age of 65 in Louisiana has been diagnosed with diabetes.

In 2006 diabetes cost Louisiana $2.4 billion.

So, to re-cap: Diabetes bad. Louisiana has a lot of diabetes. More here